Southport Waterloo travelled to Sunderland last weekend

UNDER the watching eye of the Penshaw Monument, a magnificent 'folly' built in 1844 for the first Earl of Durham, Northern Athletics’ Cross Country Championships took place in the spacious parkland of Herrington Park in Sunderland.

UNDER the watching eye of the Penshaw Monument, a magnificent 'folly' built in 1844 for the first Earl of Durham, Northern Athletics’ Cross Country Championships took place in the spacious parkland of Herrington Park in Sunderland.

The monument towers over the park which itself covers almost 200 hectares and was created on the site of disused Herrington Colliery.

Being situated in the North East and about 180 miles from Merseyside, Southport Waterloo was not represented in great numbers but those who did take part enjoyed a challenging course with a number of long uphills, a few sharp drops and an exhausting uphill finish.

Herrington Park has previously been used for the English National XC Champs and so is a well-tested course.

In bright early morning sunshine, after a frosty night, the ground was very firm underfoot but as the sun worked on the top few inches, the ground softened considerably and became muddier as the races progressed.

The thaw was something that affected car drivers as well, many of whom needed just a little extra help to get out of the grass car park!

Five Southport Waterloo runners made the trip and all did very well. First off was Andrew Kershaw in the first race of the day for Under 15 Boys. Andrew ran extremely well to finish 29th of 118 finishers in 16:29 for the 4.25 km.

As a first year Under-15, this was a very encouraging performance and leaves him nicely poised for a top ten slot next year.

Ellie Roberts is also a first year Under -15 and finished strongly in her race, 62nd of 143 in 19:52 for her 4.25 km. Again, a good result and gives confidence for a return as a final year under-15.

In the Junior Men's race both Patrick and Joe Vis were running. In a field of 76 completing the 8.2 km course, it was Patrick who emerged in front of Joe, finishing 26th in 29:16. Joe was 36th in 29:43, both doing very well against local rivals.

Finally, we had just one runner in the Senior Men's race, the mass start of which is one of the most memorable sights of these championships. Steve Wilkinson was lying about 120th after the first of three large laps making up the 12 km and must have passed quite a few runners later in the race to finish 101st of 488 in 46:06.

Many of the club’s junior runners will be at Sefton Park this Saturday for the Merseyside Schools Cross Country Champs.

And seniors have the Liverpool & District Cross Country Champs on Sunday. There is also the Mad Dog 10K on Sunday in Southport for those preferring a road race.